Direct and Indirect Costs of Children in Austria. A Survey

Child-care costs are made up of direct costs of children – i.e., the expenditure on consumption by children – and indirect costs of children, which are incurred through the time spent by parents on child care. Direct consumption costs average some 500 € a month per child and they rise with the age of the child. Indirect costs are higher than the direct ones: women who remain in gainful employment in addition to caring for their child will on average earn 540 € to 690 € per month less than childless women; if they give up their paid work, they will lose 1,250 € per month. After giving birth to a child, less qualified women reduce their gainful employment much more substantially than those of higher qualifications. Before their first child, mothers on average are much more integrated in working life than childless women of the same age and they earn more. For an average household with children, public transfer payments make up 10 percent of the net household income and thus do not compensate for the costs accruing from children.